OMG this is the one of the most grossly fascinating series of pictures I have even seen. They document ones man's recovery from a RATTLESNAKE bite. After seeing these I wonder if death is almost preferable. Here I am worried about ocean dwelling killers and there are still plenty of things on land that have the power to mess a person up. At least the Rattlesnakes give you a warning before they strike. But when they do strike...WOW. These are VERY gruesome medical textbook kind of images (so be warned) but fascinating if you want to see the process from first surgery to final look. It is amazing how much damage the venom of a rattler can do to human flesh. The process of fixing the damage is not something one would take on lightly and makes me feel bad for bitching about the baby cut I have on my arm which is healing without skin graphs or heroic surgical actions.
http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm
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5 comments:
Calvin: Rattlesnakes have an interest neurotoxin whose purpose it is pre-digest whatever organic matter it is injected into, thereby making victim of bite easier to get down (since it is already been, for the most part, broken down).
That means that this unfortunate gentleman's arm, to a large extent, was made semi liquid. Nearly always this level of damage means that you loose the part of your body that the toxin has infected, since it is . . . well, somewhat gelatinous. I had a friend once that that got bit by a newborn rattlesnake, or at least not long out of the egg, and he lost his thumb as the price for his stupidity (ah, the glories of living in south Florida). The victim here was lucky, I suppose.
In other words, Great Post! -- Mykal
Thanks for putting me off my breakfast.
Fine post, Cal,although I'm confounded to find out all the elaborate doctoring required to survive a rattlesnake bite. In the movie The Yearling, all you have to do is kill a doe, cut out her liver and clap it on your bite to draw the venom out. Also, as a school kid I was told you could cut a deep X over the wound, suck the venom out and survive just fine. (Although not, I'd bet, if you had cuts or sores in your mouth.) And now you're telling me neither of these would work??!!!
Okay - UGH!
What is this, DiscoveryCal?
jinkies...
My in-laws told me about a woman they saw on a show once who lost her whole arm to necrotizing fachiitis (aka. the flesh eating disease) Stupid me, I looked it up on the internet and the pictures looked a lot like the one you posted.:P
I feel bad for victims of both the toxin and bacteria. Nobody should have to suffer like that!
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